New from Cambridge University Press!

Edited By Keith Allan and Kasia M. Jaszczolt

This book "fills the unquestionable need for a comprehensive and up-to-date handbook on the fast-developing field of pragmatics" and "includes contributions from many of the principal figures in a wide variety of fields of pragmatic research as well as some up-and-coming pragmatists."

Crystal, David (2003) English as a Global Language,Cambridge University Press.

Margarita Balamakova, English Philology Department,Ivanovo State University (Russia)

OVERVIEWIn this review I will try and follow the natural orderof perception -- first addressing the form and then dealingwith the contents.

The structure of the book is truly reader-friendly: prefacesto the first and second editions explain the importance ofthe subject under study, the approaches taken by the authorin his investigation of it, and the differences between thetwo editions. Unfortunately, often a time some casualreaders skip the preface as they consider it a formal demandof the publisher. An attentive and careful reader, on thecontrary, will start reading with this particular sectionand will be rewarded as the author will 'talk' directly tohim/her explaining the goals and ideas of the book, thuspersonalizing this piece of printed matter that came to thereader's possession. Let us now see how Crystal does itin his "English as a global language".

The book deals with global linguistic developments asreflected in the English language of today. In linguistics,according to the author, the 1990s were a revolutionarydecade due to public recognition of the proliferation of newlinguistic varieties arising out of the Internet's world-wide implementation, the crisis affecting endangeredlanguages, and the global position of English as they wereaddressed in academic publications.

This is why the first edition of the book appeared back in1997 and its updated version became possible in 2003 whenthere accumulated much literature to refer to, and morepoints of view were expressed along with the greateravailability of descriptive studies of individual varieties.In its new version the book also changed in the presentationstyle, which is now more academically conventional and yetso recognizable -- this is David Crystal and no one else.

The book addresses three large issues - what is a globallanguage, why is English the leading candidate, and what isthe future of global English. A motivated reader will followthe author's way in discovering facts, comparing them,compiling their logical sequence, and drawing inferences. Acritically-minded reader will think of counter arguments towhat is stated by the author. However, both will recognizeCrystal's clear logic and shrewd reasoning.

In Chapter 1 - "Why a global language?" - the authordescribes time-tested stereotypes about the English languageand its power in the world. While doing this he considersthe mixed feelings that some people might have about thislanguage domination and its influence on their own(sometimes endangered) cultures. Crystal theninvestigates the linguistic and extralinguistic mechanismsthat can trigger the global spread of a language and theneed there might be for that. What makes his argumentationfair enough is the unbiased discussion of the dangers of aglobal language. Impressive and thought-provoking is thestatement that it only took one generation to move from asituation of a global language being a theoreticalpossibility to one where it is an evident reality. Thus thekey concept of the book is defined and applied to the modernworld situation.

Chapter 2 - "Why English? The historical context" -investigates factors of the geo-historical context that leadEnglish and no other language to become a global one, inother words, "how English reached a position of pre-eminence" (Crystal). The author gives a brief account ofits origin and spread on the British Isles, and a moredetailed description of its overseas travel and today'sposition there covering America, Canada, the Caribbean,Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South Asia, formercolonial Africa, South-east Asia and the South Pacific.Finally, Crystal states that the present-day world statusof English is primarily the result of two factors: theexpansion of British colonial power and the emergence of theUnited States as the leading economic power. The languagesituation in today's world is discussed in the last part ofthis chapter and visualized in charts, maps, and tables.

Chapter 3 - "Why English? The cultural context" -investigates those socio-cultural factors that help tounderstand why English preserves the status it attained inthe course of its consolidation and expansion, and provesthat English became the dominant language of global politicsand economy.

In Chapter 4 - "Why English? The cultural legacy" -Crystal observes the role of international relations, themedia, international travel, international safety,education, and communications in the current standing ofEnglish as a language functioning on a global scale. Theconclusion of this wide-ranging review is that English tookthe right place at the right time, which was largelyfacilitated by two events: the movement towards politicalindependence and the electronic revolution.

Chapter 5 - "The Future of global English" - explores theperspectives for English to retain its current position on aworld language scale and/or to change its standing due tocertain political, socio-economic, educational, and othertrends in today's global society. New Englishes have enteredthe linguistic scene, each of them having its own characterexplicated in grammar, vocabulary, etc. so that code-switching is not as easy as it used to be even within anEnglish family of languages. The author is extremelyaccurate about predictions: in fact, he rather speculatesthan predicts and ends up with asking questions and notgiving straight-forward answers on the future of English.

This final chapter we find of a paramount importance as itstirs the reader's interest to the issues raised in thebook. Also, it inspires further research: the questionsasked by the author work like guidelines, following whichmay lead an attentive reader to finding answers to each ofthem. The resulting answers, however, will definitely differfrom reader to reader and may largely depend upon numerousfactors of political, economic, cultural differences andpersonal views of the book's audience. The author's personalopinion can hardly be traced between the lines of the text:he operates by unbiased facts and figures. In other words,the status of English as a global language is proven andrecognized but Crystal avoids predictions about its futureposition as the situation may change in this changing world.

Earlier, we mentioned the user-friendliness of the book thatreveals not only in its language but also in the edition'architecture'. Once again, it is for the readers'convenience that the author introduces the Referencessection with 173 sources listed (monographs, articles fromreference books and periodicals, official reports,transcripts of debates, etc.) and the Index section with 918entries (names of people, places, and various phenomena ofsocial, cultural, technical, political, and economicspheres.)

As a reader, I thanked Crystal many a time for thosereference sections. As a reviewer, I was satisfied with theprecision of the References and Index compilation. As alinguist who is not 'technically challenged', I understandthe mechanisms of such compilation. Yet, these 'auxiliary'sections look state-of-the-art to me: they are ofsubstantial value to the book as they constitute its otherlayer - the book's hypertextual structure - thus assistingthe readers in their effective search for the necessaryinformation and serving as memory boosters.

CONCLUSIONCrystal's "English as a Global Language" is a scholarlyyet reader-friendly book on a burning issue of today: isglobalization going to take over so that our civilizationwill end up sharing one language. Being a linguist, theauthor clearly expresses his points of narration andargument. Being an authority, he knows how to manage hisaudience. Being a liberal person of wide views, he offerseach reader to follow his/her own path in the exploration ofthe subject with a solid foundation provided.

The book is a true example of high-quality intellectualmaterial that is flexible enough to be used by variousaudiences: from educational to professional through justcurious.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER:
ABOUT THE REVIEWERMargarita Balamakova is an Associate Professor, PhD, at theDepartment of English Philology, Ivanovo State University(Russia), currently teaching English, American Studies andNew Information Technologies in linguistics to futurelanguage professionals and current language teachers. She isthe Director of IvSU Linguistic Centre. Language applicationspheres of top interest are cross-cultural communication andtranslation; recent research projects deal with textproduction and perception in the Internet.